No Zika in Shasta County but health officials equipped to deal with it

Ken Cole, supervising microbiologist with the Shasta County Public Health lab, calibrates a drug testing machine Friday at the lab. The lab has sent two suspected Zika cases to a state lab for testing, but both came back negative.(Photo: Andreas Fuhrmann/Record Searchlight)Buy Photo

Pepper Stockton, public health microbiologist with Shasta County Public Health, tests for chlamydia and gonorrhea Friday at the lab. (Photo: Andreas Fuhrmann)

The Zika virus has been a growing national concern, especially for the Gulf Coast region, but for Shasta County, there have been no reported cases.

Dr. Andrew Deckert, health officer at Shasta County Public Health Department, said there are no Zika carrying mosquitoes in the county, and the only way to acquire the virus would be to travel to a country where active transmission of Zika was a concern or if a person has sexual contact with someone infected by the virus.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 40 Zika virus cases in California were acquired by travel to affected areas, and as of late March, the California Department of Public Health reported one confirmed case where the virus was acquired through sexual contact.

The Zika virus is transmitted through the Aedes aegypti and the Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, neither of which is native to California but have been detected south of Hayward, according to the CDPH website, which updates mosquito detection every Friday. None of those mosquitoes are carrying the Zika virus.

Deckert said while there's no vaccine for the virus or specific treatment, that doesn't mean Shasta County isn't equipped to deal with Zika if a case were to occur.

The main symptoms of the disease are fever, rash, conjunctivitis and joint pain, all of which are treatable symptoms at local medical centers, he said. If Zika exposure were suspected in a pregnant woman, an ultrasound would be performed to detect whether the baby in the womb has microcephaly.

But, the Shasta County Public Health Laboratory does not actively test for Zika, as it's conducted at the state level, but that could change down the road if the state decides to give the county permission, Deckert said.

Ken Cole, the supervising public health microbiologist at the county lab, said he's only sent off two cases of suspected Zika to the state lab, and both results were negative. He said if they received multiple requests for Zika testing, then they would get permission from CDC to test locally. But they don't take on new testing if it's not warranted, he said.

For now, Deckert recommends that county residents follow the 'Four D's' to protect themselves against mosquitoes — stay indoors at dusk and dawn, dress in long sleeves and long pants, use the insect repellent Deet and drain standing water, which can be a breeding ground for mosquitoes.